Markets In Everything: Hong Kong Haunted Houses

HONG KONG: "It may not be everyone’s idea of a dream home, but for bargain hunters in Hong Kong’s turbocharged property market apartments that belonged to the recently deceased are proving irresistible – and the more gruesome the occupant’s demise the better.

Haunted houses may be sold for 40 percent below market price depending on what has happened there and how recently it took place.

Home prices have leapt more than 70 percent since 2009, while banks have increased mortgage rates five times since March, pricing all but the wealthiest out of the market. With many young Hong Kongers forced to live at home deep into their 20s or 30s, haunted houses are providing an unlikely route onto the housing ladder."

HT: R.J. Kuehl